Claim
by KawaiPanda
Summary: In which Natsu decides to stake his claim.


Claim

"Oi, Lushie!" At the voice, I smiled.

Giving the Exceed a small wave, I greeted him in kind, "Oh, hey Happy."

He took in my state of attire, settling on my lap before asking, "What are you all dressed up for?"

Rubbing my fingers behind his ears, I replied, "I'm going out."

"Like on a date?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yep."

Pulling away, he teased, "You llllike him!"

Shaking my head at his predicable response, I watched as he flew away, spouting off about the nonexistent love between me and the dragon slayer. Given my normal response, I could understand why he moved out of my grasp…. But this date wasn't with Natsu. But I wasn't going to correct him, because I knew that Natsu would ruin it for me the moment he found out, dragging me off on some mission or other to keep me from going.

Hopefully by the time anyone realized the truth, it would be too late. I was going to be meeting with the guy in about fifteen minutes anyway, and Natsu had to group up with Erza and Gray for some mission, while Happy had stayed behind to woo Carla, and I didn't think I'd make it in time to go on the date.

In some ways, I felt a little reluctant, given my feelings for Natsu, but I'd not seen a single sign from him that could be understood that he had even entertained the thought of dating, much less me with Lisanna back, not that she seemed to be getting any differential treatment. He did hang out with her on occasion, but not to the extent one would think, since she had been assumed dead for several years.

It was too late to back out now anyway, so I quietly slipped out of the guild, and made my way to the restaurant.

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XXX

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A couple of hours later and I found myself being walked to my door. My date, Aaron, had insisted on walking me back, and I found myself enjoying his company. Dinner had been fantastic and I could totally see myself going on another date with him in the near future. As we neared my apartment, he leaned towards me and murmured how he'd love to go out with me again soon.

The hot breath had me flushing, and I nodded.

"Have a good night, beautiful," he called as I opened the door.

"Good night!" I replied as I unlocked the door, locking it behind me with a huge grin on my face. With a sigh, I headed into my bedroom, flicking on the lights as I crossed through the doorway, gasping in shock when I was greeted by the sight of my partner sitting on my bed.

The smile was faded almost instantly. "Natsu?"

"Aye." He stood.

As I slipped off the heels that had begun to cause an ache in my feet, I prattled off, "I didn't think you'd be stopping by tonight. Didn't you have a mission with Erza and Gray?"

"We got back early," he murmured, coming to stand before me, inhaling through his nostrils visibly. After a moment of silence between us, he continued, eyes narrowed, "You stink."

It was like a slap in the face. For a moment, I was standing there, mouth open in shock when the anger finally struck me.

Rounding on the dragon slayer, I asked, eyes narrow, "Excuse me?"

His eyes were unreadable, but his expression was of utmost seriousness. "You stink, Lucy."

I started in on him, fisting my hands on my hips, "Who the hell do you think you-" Abruptly, he grabbed a hold of me, pulling me close. I could feel my face flush from the close proximity of our bodies as he all but pushed me into the wall behind me.

"What are you doing?!" Gasping, when he leaned his face towards mine, I turned my head, starting to feel a little light headed when I felt his lips brush against the skin of my neck. Struggling to free myself from him, his hands tighten their grip, becoming almost painful. "Let go of me this instant you idiot!" And then I could feel his tongue moistening his lips, flickering briefly against my skin. "W-what are you-"

He pulled back momentarily, his eyes flickering briefly upwards to meet mine, a variety of emotions dancing through his gaze, softening for the briefest moment. "Luce." Some unknown emotion was laced throughout his voice, before he inhaled through his nose and he was gone again, back to unreadable and he looked away, eyeballing my neck once more.

"What are you doing Natsu?" I murmured, wondering what in the hell was going through his mind at this moment. His mouth was once more attached to my neck, the sensation of his teeth scraping the soft skin sent shivers down my spine, and a sudden, totally unexpected, wave of desire stuck me, straight from the loins. And then pain. "Oww!"

I struggled to pull away from him, away from the pain he was intentionally causing me, but his firm grip didn't let up. Tears swelled, overflowing as he finally released his grip, pulling away, murmuring, "Sorry, Luce."

My hand went to the wound immediately, covering the smarting area as if the pressure would make the pain dissipate. "You bit me!"

"Sorry!" He held up his hands in surrender, cowering at the rage that radiated from me.

"You're going to be!" I informed him. "Lucy Kick!"

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XXXX

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The following morning, after spending at least an hour disinfecting the bite mark, because knowing Natsu, I wasn't totally sure I could trust his saliva, I slowly made my way to the guild. I'd worn my hair down today to keep as much of the bandage hidden as best I could, though I knew it was probably futile. I just wish I had some less revealing clothing, something akin to a turtle neck.

I had given much thought to what his behavior last night meant, tossing and turning for several hours, but still I couldn't come up with a logical conclusion.

With a sigh, I walked into the guild, headed for the bar, greeting Levy as I passed. I saw Gajeel, from the corner of my eye, noticeably take a sniff of the air as I walked by, a look of disbelief on his face as he muttered, "I can't believe he had the balls…"

Before I could get any further, he was in my path, leaning towards me, sniffing audibly. I looked uneasily around at the stares we were receiving from his strange behavior. Levy was giving me a quizzical glance, looking back and forth between the two of us. I backed away a bit and asked, "Um, could you not do that?"

He shook his head and straightened his posture, replying, "I just wanted to make sure my nose wasn't tricking me."

"What's going on?" Levy finally asked, coming to stand next to Gajeel.

"Bunny-girl and Flames for brains are mates," he answered, much to my horror. I hadn't know that's it had meant! Or at least, I'd hoped it hadn't…. Curse Natsu and his dragon-like behavior!

"Mates?" Her eyes widened considerably, her remark drawing the attention of our guildmates.

The collective, "Eh?!" had me slapping a palm to my forehead.

"Mates?!" Mira had all but swooned behind the bar, gushing on and on about pink and blonde haired babies.

"Natsu!" I turned and ran from the guild.

With anger fueling me, it didn't take long to reach my destination. Spying the cottage, I marched right up to the front door and kicked it in.

The door slammed open, crashing into the wall behind it. I'm sure it made a dent in the wall, but I couldn't find it in me to care. Stalking inside of the building towards the cowering dragon slayer, I snarled, "You marked me as your mate?!"

"I can explain!" He cried.

"Out with it!" I barked, my hand already reaching for my celestial keys.

He looked away, scratching his head sheepishly. "Well, you see… Um-"

"Open, gate of the-"

"Wah! Okay, okay!" His hands were up again, as if to ward off an attack, yelling, "I was jealous!"

I stared at him, eyes narrowing. "Jealous? You bit me because you we're jealous."

"It's… I just…" He looked away, a light pink dusting his cheeks.

Crossing my arms, I demanded, "Explain, now."

"It was from my instincts. I had to do it." But of course, I'd subconsciously knew that it was something like that. Levy had been reading up on dragons a lot lately, and of course, shared the information she'd acquired. It made sense… but right now, the fact was, and he'd bitten me — marked me as his mate without even getting my consent!

I shook my head, pointing at him. "No you didn't! Who has to bite someone? You're not an animal, Natsu! You don't just go around, biting people just because-"

Abruptly, he was in my in front of me, his lips claiming mine in a searing kiss. After a moment, when I'd melted, he became demanding, and I responded in kind, gasping at the tongue that was invading my mouth. He pulled away after what seemed to be an eternity, smirking. "Is that better?"

Gasping at the audacity, I pushed away from him, replying, "Y-you can't go kissing people randomly either! You don't even like me."

He cocked his head. "No, I love you."

I blinked, startled by the sudden admission. "N-Natsu?"

He shrugged, looking away. "It's why I had to mark you… to show that you were taken."

Tears sprang up, and I punched his arm.

He rubbed the spot, still unable to look me in the eyes. "Oww!"

"You idiot." Without hesitation, I stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder as I kissed him. He caged me in his arms, hands resting on my hips as our lips meshed together. After several minutes of heavy kisses, I was finally given a breather as we broke apart, his forehead resting against mine as we caught our breaths. Smiling, I murmured, "I love you, Natsu."

He scoffed. "Weirdo."

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"You smell like Gajeel…"

"Oww! Don't bite me again, you idiot!"


End file.
